Scottish Executive

Arts

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive who it consulted over the siting of the National Theatre.

Mr Tom McCabe: The matter of a location for the administrative base of the National Theatre was discussed with the Scottish Arts Council and the City of Glasgow Council.

Bail Hostels

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many bail hostels there are, detailing for each hostel (a) its location, (b) how many places are available and (c) the average percentage utilisation.

Cathy Jamieson: Bail places are provided in offender hostels, funded by the Scottish Executive through the ringfenced arrangements for criminal justice social work, not as residential facilities specifically designated as bail hostels. Offender hostels are provided within seven local authority areas. Current availability is:

  Aberdeen – 14 bed unit providing equivalent of one bail bed. Occupancy rate of hostel in 2003-04, measured on number of available bed nights, 98%.

  Dundee – 16 bed unit providing equivalent of four bail beds. Occupancy rate of hostel in 2003-04, 73%.

  Edinburgh – eight and four bed units with no specific allocation for bail beds. Occupancy rates of 47% (restricted capacity due to refurbishment) and 59% respectively.

  Fife – four bed unit with no specific allocation for bail beds. Occupancy rate in 2003-04 of 66%.

  Glasgow – 13 and eight bed units with no specific allocation for bail beds. Occupancy rates in 2003-04 of 90% and 53% respectively.

  Highland – two bail beds are provided within a hostel which is not exclusively for offenders. Occupancy rate of these bail beds 89% in 2003-04.

  Orkney – four bed unit with no specific allocation for bail beds. Occupancy rate in 2003-04 of 34%.

  Courts outwith these areas also have access to these bed places as well as a range of other supported accommodation.

Cancer

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any research has been carried out to establish whether Dunoon, Helensburgh and Largs are cancer "hot spots".

Mr Andy Kerr: In response to a request from NHS Argyll and Clyde a statistical analysis was undertaken earlier this year by the Information and Statistics Division (ISD) for the Holy Loch area. This analysis showed that there is no evidence from the available data of a statistically significant excess of all cancers, breast cancer or leukaemia in Holy Loch during the period 1996–2000 when compared to Argyll and Bute Council area, NHS Argyll and Clyde Board area or Scotland as a whole.

  A similar statistical analysis for Helensburgh and Largs has not been undertaken.

Civil Service

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to bring civil service jobs to the Borders.

Tavish Scott: The Executive’s policy on relocation aims to bring the benefit of public sector jobs to all areas of Scotland. The Borders will be considered alongside other areas in all location reviews.

Climate Change

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will raise awareness of climate change issues and what funds will be allocated for this purpose.

Ross Finnie: I am pleased to announce the launch today of a public consultation exercise on the review of the Scottish Climate Change Programme, which is designed to stimulate a public debate on climate change and seek views on the Executive’s response. The consultation paper is available online at www.scotland.gov.uk/climatechange .

  The Executive is co-funding an interactive conference on 7 December to help raise awareness of the Scottish Programme review and engage stakeholders in the consultation process. We will look to avail ourselves of media opportunities to ensure maximum coverage of climate change issues associated with the review.

  In addition, the initial focus of the Executive’s environmental awareness campaign, Do a Little: Change a Lot, which launched in 2001, was on climate change. The campaign’s budget for 2004-05 is £400,000, of which the majority will be spent promoting energy efficiency, a key element of the Executive’s response to climate change.

Community Care

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) carers and (b) people being cared for there are in each local authority area.

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many assessments of (a) ability to provide care and (b) needs have been carried out in each local authority area under the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002.

Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the question S2W-11761, answered on 9 November 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Community Care

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all local authorities are implementing their legal duties in relation to carers, as set out in the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002.

Rhona Brankin: The Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 introduced various new legislative rights for carers and new duties upon statutory bodies. In recognition of their lead role in supporting carers and the people they care for, most of these duties apply to local authorities. The Executive is developing with key stakeholders a range of outcome measures and performance indicators that will provide robust data on the impact of our Carers Strategy. A key part of that will be to monitor the impact of these new legislative rights and duties. The first of these indicators will come on stream in 2005.

Community Care

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people accessed direct payments to secure the provision of community care services under the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002, broken down by local authority area.

Rhona Brankin: Information about the number of carers in receipt of direct payments is not held centrally. A breakdown of numbers receiving direct payments by local authority area can be accessed from table number 8 of the statistics release Direct Payments Scotland 2004 , available at the following website http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00370-00.asp .

Community Care

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the legislation on assessment of carers and direct payments is being adhered to by all local authorities.

Rhona Brankin: From January 2005 local authorities are being requested for the first time to report on the number of carers’ assessments being carried out annually, and this will provide a much clearer picture of whether they are meeting legislative requirements.

  Thirty-one local authorities issued direct payments in the year to 31 March 2004. Although there are no performance indicators in place to monitor the uptake of direct payments, consideration is being given to introducing these in 2005-06 through the Joint Performance Information and Assessment Framework.

Crime

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to change the criteria for allocating funds from the Better Neighbourhood Services Fund and, if so, whether it will consider crime levels as a factor.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Better Neighbourhood Services Fund programme has already been fully allocated and the programme will cease operation in 2005-06.

Crime

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many reports to procurators fiscal were marked "no proceedings" due to a lack of evidence in each of the last five years, broken down by sheriff court district.

Colin Boyd QC: Data held by Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is recorded for Procurator Fiscal offices, as shown in the following table:

  No Proceedings - Insufficient Admissible Evidence

  


PF Office
April 1999 to March 2000
April 2000 to March 2001
April 2001 to March 2002
April 2002 to March 2003
April 2003 to March 2004


Aberdeen 
667
398
367
368
219


Airdrie 
447
454
284
259
325


Alloa 
111
179
190
190
189


Arbroath 
186
210
58
111
124


Ayr 
542
504
334
348
378


Banff 
106
16
40
66
81


Campbeltown 
23
19
11
13
10


Cupar 
63
76
71
134
111


Dingwall 
38
75
43
62
62


Dornoch 
23
17
24
21
32


Dumbarton 
431
566
559
456
430


Dumfries 
186
141
86
83
94


Dundee 
623
612
471
453
913


Dunfermline 
310
249
244
260
285


Dunoon 
34
42
45
35
35


Duns 
16
38
22
22
28


Edinburgh 
771
895
836
727
819


Elgin 
128
96
108
105
114


Falkirk 
318
420
481
498
591


Forfar 
124
121
103
110
125


Fort William 
46
34
32
49
68


Glasgow 
3,602
3,432
2,888
2,129
1,836


Greenock 
304
305
302
243
349


Haddington 
109
57
46
37
91


Hamilton 
600
584
424
242
279


Inverness 
241
236
233
237
257


Jedburgh 
53
38
62
54
76


Kilmarnock 
461
335
341
450
525


Kirkcaldy 
387
395
388
476
425


Kirkcudbright 
51
36
11
17
23


Kirkwall 
28
33
14
12
14


Lanark 
75
62
48
66
38


Lerwick 
32
33
17
11
14


Linlithgow 
144
105
99
219
213


Lochmaddy 
12
6
6
6
12


Oban 
32
23
30
41
37


Paisley 
673
627
456
337
196


Peebles 
18
9
9
12
10


Perth 
170
171
223
191
278


Peterhead 
98
86
66
29
63


Portree 
9
13
20
7
5


Rothesay 
9
13
19
16
24


Selkirk 
67
45
45
36
63


Stirling 
117
188
214
250
228


Stonehaven 
45
52
25
13
17


Stornoway 
17
11
19
23
33


Stranraer 
150
100
73
51
35


Tain 
50
69
102
65
94


Wick 
39
31
38
58
62


Total (A): no pro – insufficient admissible evidence 
12,786
12,257
10,627
9,698
10,330


Total (B) reports received
285,718
284,633
275,803
308,255
325,461


A as % of B
4.5%
4.3%
3.8%
3.1%
3.2%

Crime

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals were charged with a crime in each of the last five years, broken down by police board area.

Cathy Jamieson: Information on persons charged by the police is not held centrally. Information on the numbers proceeded against in Scottish courts is given in the reply to question S2W-12388 answered on 2 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Crime

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals were prosecuted for a crime in each of the last five years, broken down by police board area.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the table. Figures for 2002 may be underestimates due to time taken to record details of some court proceedings.

  Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts, by Police Force Area, 1998-2002

  

Police Force
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002


Central 
7,281
7,307
7,957
8,703
9,280


Dumfries and Galloway
5,123
6,277
5,280
4,452
4,586


Fife 
8,747
8,223
7,741
8,371
8,541


Grampian 
16,419
14,046
13,091
12,767
12,874


Lothian and Borders 
24,083
20,075
19,160
19,461
20,916


Northern 
7,304
6,799
5,977
6,354
7,792


Strathclyde 
75,372
70,191
64,374
65,129
57,200


Tayside 
14,954
14,045
13,586
14,574
15,201


Total
159,283
146,963
137,168
139,820
136,390

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the comprehensive internal examination of procedure and policy for Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service staff in respect of death will be published.

Colin Boyd QC: The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is currently undertaking a detailed internal review of the guidance provided to procurators fiscal in relation to the investigation of deaths.

  It is anticipated that the review will be completed by early 2005 with revised guidance being issued to staff in the spring.

  COPFS guidance in relation to the investigation of deaths is currently available through the COPFS Freedom Of Information Publication Scheme. Any revised guidance will also be available in a similar way.

Dentistry

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for access to NHS dental services.

Rhona Brankin: Waiting times for access to NHS general dental services are not held centrally.

  Information is available for dental treatment undertaken in a hospital setting. The median waiting time in the dental specialties in the year ending 31 March 2004, was 64 days for a first out-patient appointment following a general medical/dental practitioner referral and 22 days for inpatient and day case treatment.

Domestic Violence

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is made available for public awareness campaigns on the issues of domestic violence and violence against women.

Malcolm Chisholm: This year, 2004-05, the Scottish Executive will be investing between £250,000 and £300,000 on the domestic abuse publicity campaign to raise awareness of the issues and the services available to women.

Education

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what place in the curriculum is given to the teaching of works of Scottish poets, such as Robert Burns.

Euan Robson: The Curriculum Guidelines for English language 5-14 advise that Scottish texts, including poetry, should be actively sought and used in classrooms. A Curriculum for Excellence sets out a number of purposes which will be well served by the teaching of works by Scottish writers, notably the development of an understanding of the world and Scotland’s place in it.

Education

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools teach Cantonese.

Euan Robson: There is only limited information held centrally on the teaching and assessment of Cantonese and Mandarin in schools and in further and higher education. The last entrant to an SQA examination in Cantonese was in 1999.

Education

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many students are in initial teacher training places, broken down by year group and including postgraduates.

Mr Jim Wallace: In 2002-03, the most recent year for which data are available, there were 1,612 postgraduate students on one year initial teacher training courses at higher education institutions in Scotland. There were also 3,736 undergraduate students on Bachelor of Education (BEd) courses. The following table shows this figure broken down by year of course.

  BEd Students at Higher Education Institutions in Scotland 2002-03 by Year of Course

  

First Year
1,265


Second Year
974


Third Year
803


Fourth Year
694


Total
3,736



  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency.

Education

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many postgraduate students will be required to take up teaching courses over the next three years to achieve its target of reducing class sizes in (a) Primary 1 and (b) S1 and S2 mathematics and English.

Peter Peacock: The number of postgraduate students that will be required to take up teaching courses over the next three years to achieve the target of reducing class sizes is estimated to be (a) in Primary 520 and (b) S1 and S2 mathematics and English 560 and 570 respectively. These estimates are reviewed each year as part of the annual teacher workforce planning exercise, taking account of actual recruitment and completion rates from the previous year.

  We are on track in delivering on the commitments to reduce class sizes. Very good progress is being made, in session 2004-05 student numbers in Postgraduate Certificate in Education courses in primary have increased by 31%, in maths by 85% and in English by 52%. Student intakes will increase again going into 2005 and 2006, to ensure the increase in teacher workforce is achieved in time for 2007.

  Newly qualified teachers are not the only means by which the class size commitments can be met. We are currently developing an advertising campaign for launch early in 2005, to attract existing teachers to come to register and work here.

Enterprise

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is providing for small businesses to enable them to compete more effectively with large businesses for contracts, for example local authority contracts.

Mr Jim Wallace: Small businesses are a crucial component of the Scottish Economy. The Scottish Executive and its economic development agencies - Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise – provide support services to small businesses in a variety of ways which can enhance the competitiveness of the business.

  The Scottish Executive has been proactive in identifying measures to ensure that small- to medium-sized enterprises are not unfairly excluded from participating in public sector contracting opportunities.

Environment

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when enhanced measures to improve the environment through Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform will take effect.

Ross Finnie: I announced on 9 September the Cross Compliance conditions under CAP reform that farmers will be required to respect in order to receive the Single Farm Payment. These conditions will be introduced from 1 January 2005.

  Cross Compliance conditions concern the promotion of more environment-friendly and sustainable farming in Scotland. As such they are pivotal in raising the general environmental standard in farming practice - and provide a key element of the rationale for continuing support payments.

Environment

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how the proposals by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for a 50% reduction in mercury emissions from crematoria in Scotland are likely to be achieved.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive, in conjunction with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Welsh Assembly Government, have recently consulted on a proposal that 50% of all cremations throughout Great Britain should be subject to mercury abatement. It is proposed that this target should be achieved by the end of 2012. Procedural guidance will be issued in due course to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), and other environmental regulators. In deciding what emissions abatement is appropriate at installations in Scotland, SEPA will adopt a regulatory approach that is proportionate to the risk posed by the installations.

European Union

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcomes were of the 5th Conference of Minister-Presidents of regions with legislative powers on 29 and 30 November 2004

Mr Jack McConnell: I am delighted that 39 regional governments were represented at the 5th Conference of Minister-Presidents of regions with legislative powers (REGLEG), which I chaired in Edinburgh on 29 and 30 November 2004.

  The Edinburgh Declaration, which the Conference adopted, expresses the support of REGLEG for the Constitutional Treaty signed on 29 October 2004 and welcomes the provisions in the Treaty which enhance the role of the regions with legislative powers in Europe. The Declaration points the way for further reforms to improve the quality of European legislation and its responsiveness to differing regional circumstances; to reduce the burden of unnecessary regulation; to ensure that decisions are taken as close as possible to the citizen, and to allow the regions with legislative powers to fulfil their potential as key agents in bridging the gap between the European Union and its citizens. The Edinburgh Declaration is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34594).

  The conference was the culmination of the Scottish Presidency of REGLEG, a year in which we have taken every opportunity to promote the interests of the regions with legislative powers in discussions with European Commissioners and other key decision-makers in Europe.

Fuel Poverty

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to reduce fuel poverty.

Malcolm Chisholm: We are tackling fuel poverty on a variety of fronts. These include improving the energy efficiency of homes through the Warm Deal and the Central Heating Programme. We also recently challenged the fuel supply companies to offer a social tariff so that people on pension credit shouldn’t have to pay more than 10% of their income on fuel.

Health

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it provides to the British Association for Immediate Care Scotland to provide emergency medical care.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive has in recent years provided the British Association for Immediate Care Scotland (BASICS) organisation with direct grant funding and indirect funding through the Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative (RARARI). This funding has supported the emergency care training provided for BASICS members. NHS Education for Scotland, who have continued this funding since RARARI reached the end of its planned term in March, are currently discussing future funding arrangements with BASICS.

Health

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will develop the role of the British Association for Immediate Care Scotland in providing emergency medical care.

Mr Andy Kerr: The British Association for Immediate Care Scotland does not provide emergency medical care but does provide training in emergency care for health care professionals.

  The Executive is looking to NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to continue to support the emergency care training programme for British Association for Immediate Care Scotland (BASICS) members when the Remote and Rural Areas Initiative (RARARI) funding comes to an end in March 2005. NHS Education for Scotland is currently considering future arrangements with the education officer of the British Association for Immediate Care Scotland.

  BASICS members perform an invaluable role using their enhanced emergency skills in responding to medical emergencies especially in remote and rural areas of Scotland. Many operate as first responders making themselves available to the Scottish Ambulance Service to be used where they may be the nearest available resource to an incident. The Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS boards are discussing the possibility of providing a tracking and communications device for members which would help with these arrangements.

Hospital-Aquired Infection

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to raise awareness of MRSA.

Mr Andy Kerr: Tackling healthcare associated infection (HAI) which includes MRSA is a key priority for the Executive and for the NHS in Scotland. Scotland is leading the way in the UK in the fight against infection.

  A ministerial HAI Task Force was established in January 2003, to take forward a major three year work programme to improve prevention and control of all HAIs, including MRSA. Raising professional and public awareness of this problem, and the solutions, is a core issue for the task force.

Housing

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many social housing units which were the responsibility of registered social landlords have been bought under right to buy in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is in the following table. The increase in right to buy sales between 2002-03 and 2003-04 in part reflects the transfer of Glasgow, Dumfries and Galloway and Borders housing stock to housing associations at the end of 2003.

  Sales of Housing Association Dwellings

  

Period
Right to Buy/Rent to Mortgage


 1999-2000
962 


 2000-01
982 


 2001-02
970 


 2002-03
1,508 


 2003-04
3,188

Individual Learning Accounts

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to reintroduce individual learning accounts for learners.

Mr Jim Wallace: I am pleased to confirm that the new individual learning account (ILA) scheme, ILA Scotland, will be launched to learners in Scotland on Monday 13 December. I will provide full information on the new scheme at that time.

Justice

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: Information on persons charged by the police is not held centrally. Information on the numbers proceeded against in Scottish courts is given in the reply to question S2W-12379 answered on 2 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Justice

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been prosecuted for attempting to pervert the course of justice in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the table.

  Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Perverting the Course of Justice1, 1998-2002

  

 
1998
1999
2000
2001
20022


Number of persons proceeded against
1,460
1,330
1,207
1,172
1,002



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Figures may be underestimates due to time taken to record details of some court proceedings.

Mental Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any proposal to reconfigure local mental health services in the Lomond area should properly be considered as part of NHS Argyll and Clyde’s Clinical Strategy and therefore be subject to ministerial approval.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is for Argyll and Clyde NHS Board to decide what their Clinical Strategy should consist of.

  Executive policy is clear that any proposals for significant service change or closure must be subject to formal public consultation and ministerial approval.

Mental Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers to be the optimal model of service delivery for mental health provision.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive considers that best practice is where service users and their carers are routinely involved in the assessment of their needs and with the development of an appropriate care plan and also where the range of interventions includes partner agencies and covers preventative measures, community and hospital based care.

Nutrition

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools provide free fruit for all pupils, broken down by local authority area.

Euan Robson: The Scottish Executive has provided all local authorities with funding under the National Priorities Action Fund to enable them to provide all P1 and P2 pupils with one free piece of fruit three times a week. The January 2004 School Meals survey showed that 99% of local authority primary schools provided free fruit to P1 and P2 pupils in January 2004. This information is available in the Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication, School Meals in Scotland, January 2004  which was published in June 2004. Copies of the publication are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33185) or on the website:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00347-00.asp.

  Some local authorities have chosen to extend the scheme to some, or all, older children in primary schools, in accordance with their own locally-determined funding priorities.

Nutrition

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how the provision of free fruit in schools is funded.

Euan Robson: The Free Fruit Scheme is funded by the Scottish Executive through the National Priorities Action Fund. We initially offered to provide £2 million per year for three years (from 2003-04 to 2005-06) to enable local authorities to provide free fruit for all P1 and P2 pupils. This amount was recently increased by 50% to £3 million per year from 2004-05 onwards.

Organ Donation

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address the shortage of organs for donation.

Mr Andy Kerr: As part of our organ donation strategy, we have been running an award-winning campaign to encourage people to register, and to tell their families what their wishes are. We have set up a Single Organ Retrieval Team, the first of its kind in the UK. We are introducing two non-heartbeating donation programmes that make the option of donation more widely available. We have published a teaching resource pack on the ethical issues relating to organ donation and transplantation. Aimed at senior secondary school pupils, it has the potential over time to raise awareness within the whole population of the importance of organ donation.

Planning

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what the main public interest criteria are in respect of planning appeals.

Johann Lamont: There are no set criteria for defining public interest, nor can there be. Planning decisions, including appeals, must be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. This means that each decision must be made taking into account the individual planning merits for and against the grant of planning permission.

Prison Service

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the allocation of funding for enhanced drug transition services will be equitable across public and private sector prisons.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS seeks to provide a similar service to prisoners in all prisons.

Prison Service

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how the percentage of prisoners in privately-run penal establishments compares with the rest of Europe and how the percentage of prisoners in such establishments would compare with the rest of Europe in the event of (a) one of and (b) both the proposed new prisons being privately-run.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS does not have such information in relation to the rest of Europe

Prison Service

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what new measures it will take to improve conditions at HM Prison Aberdeen following the most recent report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) published its response on the SPS website on 18 November 2004.

Rail Network

Mrs Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will release further information on the reopening of the Airdrie to Bathgate rail link.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive will be appointing Project Managers for the Preliminary Design Phase of the Airdrie to Bathgate Rail Link project early in the new year. We expect that phase to be completed and the bill submitted to Parliament by summer 2005.

Rail Network

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the Inverurie to Stonehaven Crossrail project.

Nicol Stephen: The development of the Aberdeen Crossrail proposal is being led by Aberdeenshire Council, in partnership with Aberdeen City Council. I understand that a full appraisal of the proposal is currently being prepared in accordance with the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation has taken place with Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority and Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive in respect of the Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedule 5) Order 2004 concerning the ability of the Scottish ministers to transfer the powers of those bodies relating to the provision and regulation of railways to the Scottish ministers.

Nicol Stephen: The proposal to transfer the rail powers of the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority and Executive (SPTA/E) was set out in the Scottish Executive’s transport White Paper, Scotland’s Transport Future , (Bib. number 33072) published in June 2004. There was discussion between the Scottish Executive and SPTA/E both before and after the publication of the White Paper.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive why no regulatory impact assessment was prepared in respect of the draft Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedule 5) Order 2004.

Nicol Stephen: The decision on a Regulatory Impact Assessment is in accordance with the guidance Better Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment issued by the Cabinet Office.

  The draft order varies the competence of the Scottish Parliament. It does not in itself have a direct or indirect impact (whether benefit or cost) on business, charities or the voluntary sector. It would not therefore have any regulatory impact. The approach is normal for constitutional measures.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that there will be no impact on the private sector in west central Scotland under the Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedule 5) Order 2004, given the role played by Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority and Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive in the provision of railways and in economic development in that area.

Nicol Stephen: The draft order varies the competence of the Scottish Parliament. It does not in itself have a direct or indirect impact (whether benefit or cost) on the private sector. This is the normal approach for constitutional issues.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that there will be no impact on the public sector under the Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedule 5) Order 2004, given that the discharge of the order’s provisions will lead to the transfer of staff from Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority and Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive to the civil service.

Nicol Stephen: The draft order varies the competence of the Scottish Parliament. It does not in itself have a direct or indirect impact (whether benefit or cost) on the public sector. This is the normal approach for constitutional measures.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish ministers have the necessary powers to take on rights and responsibilities connected with the signing of the Scottish Passenger Rail Franchise.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish ministers do not currently have the statutory powers to take on all the rights and responsibilities connected with signing the Scottish Passenger Rail Franchise. The Scottish ministers have powers to give the Strategic Rail Authority binding directions and guidance and to fund the franchise.

  The Railways Bill introduced in the UK Parliament on the 25 November 2004 will, once enacted, confer on Scottish ministers amongst other matters, the powers and functions connected with the tasks of planning, specifying, letting (including signing), managing and financing rail passenger franchises in Scotland.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, following implementation of the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedule 5) Order 2004, consideration should be given to amending the relevant primary legislation.

Nicol Stephen: Following the making of the Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedule 5) Order 2004 , should the Scottish Parliament decide to legislate to enable the transfer of the relevant rail powers of Strathclyde Passenger Transport to the Scottish ministers, then the relevant primary legislation would be amended as appropriate.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought legal advice on any increased risk of judicial review of ministerial decisions associated with implementation of provisions of the Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedule 5) Order 2004 and, if so, what the substance of that advice is.

Nicol Stephen: Scottish ministers do not generally comment on the legal advice sought or provided, but clearly all legislative proposals are subject to legal scrutiny.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought legal advice concerning any possibility that the implementation of the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedule 5) Order 2004 may be premature while amendments to legislation arising from the UK White Paper, The Future of Rail , are still being considered and, if so, what the substance of that advice is.

Nicol Stephen: The Railways Bill introduced and published on 25 November 2004 proposes to repeal some sections of the Transport Act 1968 and Railways Act 1968 which relate to Passenger Transport Executives and Authorities across Great Britain. These do not form the whole of the rail powers of Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive and Authority and the Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedule 5) Order 2004, once made, will still enable the Scottish Parliament to legislate to transfer relevant rail powers.

Roads

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much extra funding Argyll and Bute Council will receive in respect of roads.

Nicol Stephen: Overall grant allocations to individual authorities for the next three years will be announced shortly. Across Scotland an extra £60 million is being allocated to GAE for local roads.

Scottish Natural Heritage

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the anticipated life is of the new headquarters to be built in Inverness for Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH); whether the cost of leasing the premises from the owners will be taken into account when working out net present value (NPV); whether, in calculating NPV, the period in respect of which discounted value is assessed will be the whole expected life of the building or 30 years and, if it is 30 years, what account will be taken of the lease costs of the building for the remainder of the expected life of the building.

Lewis Macdonald: The invitation to tender for the SNH HQ building requires the developer to design all non-replaceable elements of the building fabric to a standard suitable for permanent buildings with a life span of 75 years or more. Option appraisals undertaken by SNH follow Treasury guidance on appraisal periods and discount rates and in this case follows normal practice in adopting a 30-year appraisal period. No final decision has been taken on whether the building will be leased or purchased outright. If the leasing option were to be chosen, on completion of the 30-year lease term the building could either be surrendered back to the owner or a new lease negotiated, according to SNH’s requirement at that time.

Supporting People

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what flexibility individual local authorities will have in determining how their Supporting People grant allocation will be used.

Malcolm Chisholm: Local authorities have a great deal of flexibility to use their Supporting People grant as they judge best on any of the 21 prescribed housing support services in the light of local needs and priorities.

Supporting People

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to establish a transitional fund to help local authorities who are adversely affected by the allocation of the Supporting People grant and, if so, what criteria will be used to disburse the funding.

Malcolm Chisholm: Transitional funding will be provided to those councils most affected by the redistribution process. Proposals in this area have been included in a revised package on allocations currently under discussion with COSLA.

Tourism

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the reorganisation of VisitScotland and area tourist boards.

Mr Tom McCabe: Our plans to deliver an integrated tourism network were announced in March, in support of our ambition to grow tourism revenues by 50% over the next decade. The restructuring of the tourism network is well underway. It will build on the strengths and expertise of the area tourist boards and VisitScotland to deliver a seamless service to tourism businesses. We expect the network to be operational from April 2005.

Tourism

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to support the tourist industry so that it grows by 50% by 2015.

Mr Tom McCabe: We share with the tourism sector and with VisitScotland their ambition to grow tourism revenues by 50% over the next decade. We gave VisitScotland a 28% increase in their marketing budget earlier this year, and the recent spending review earmarked £14 million to maintain this record level of funding through to 2008. We have challenged the private sector to match most of our additional investment, and the resultant increase in the promotion of Scotland as a "must visit" destination will help achieve our long-term ambition for tourism growth.

Voluntary Sector

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will fund the development and support costs for voluntary organisations that provide placements for Project Scotland volunteers.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has allocated funding of £1.9 million, £3.5 million and £3.5 million to Project Scotland for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 respectively. This includes resources for the development of new volunteering opportunities and volunteer costs. It is anticipated that other sources, including the private sector, will complement this funding in the longer term.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Broadcasting

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether the Parliament’s internal television network can be modified to allow members to view debates and committees at Westminster other than those covered by the BBC Parliament channel and, if so, whether there are any plans to modify the network in this way.

Andrew Welsh (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The Scottish Parliament’s internal television network is a bespoke package which includes the BBC Parliament Channel. Even if it were possible to modify this package there is currently no other access for television viewers to Westminster debates. However access to live broadcasts from Westminster is available on the internet at www.parliamentlive.tv . As many as 18 live streams are available simultaneously. Coverage of all the proceedings in the two Chambers and Sittings of the House of Commons in Westminster Hall are televised and committees are televised at the request of broadcasters. If committees are not televised an audio feed is available. The service also includes an on demand archive where material is stored for 14 days.

Parliament Building

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many times the fire alarm at Holyrood has been set off (a) unintentionally and (b) intentionally for testing and what measures are being taken to reduce the number of such alarms.

John Scott (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): Since migration to Holyrood on 2 August, a total of 23 fire alarm activations resulting in full and partial evacuation have taken place. The majority of these activations were linked to either dust from contractor works activating smoke detector heads or accidental operation of break glass call points. Statistics show that, as contractor works have reduced, the incidence of fire alarm activations has also decreased. Fumes from cooking and steam from cleaners’ cupboards hot water taps have resulted in a very few activations. Additionally, a small number of fire alarms have resulted from planned live testing of the Debating Chamber and Committee Rooms, as well as accidental operation of the fire alarm voice message system.

  Since migration, the contractual and statutory processes relating to fire alarm system commissioning and testing has continued. Testing has been restricted to out of normal working hours where possible and at other times with the agreement of building management. During migration, and for some time post migration, the planned four minute grace period to allow an investigation to take place was not in operation. Thus a vital element of the fire alarm system, designed to reduce the incidence of unwanted fire alarm activations, was not available.

  The implementation of a "second phase" of the Fire Alert voice message is currently being processed, to increasing the gap between alert messages. This will be more amenable to occupants, enabling them to carry on working as normally as possible whilst preparing themselves for a possible fire evacuation.

  After every fire alarm activation, the Fire Safety Manager carries out a Fire Incident Review. This process identifies root causes, issues, lessons learned and initiates and records actions required to minimise as far as is reasonably practicable, the chance of recurrence.

  There is a downward trend in the incidence of fire alarm activations, which can be put down to a combination of reduced contractor works within the campus, bedding in of the fire detection system and continuous improvement through our Fire Incident Review and Permits to Work procedures.